Healthy Democracy Healthy People (HDHP) has merged its operations with the Institute for Responsive Government (Responsive Gov). Responsive Gov is a nonpartisan nonprofit which seeks to strengthen democracy through policy solutions that make government systems more efficient, accessible, and responsive. HDHP’s website and resource materials, state and local initiatives and other ongoing projects have moved to Responsive Gov– under a new Health & Democracy portfolio.

Healthy Democracy Healthy People (HDHP) was initially launched in 2020 as VoteSafe Public Health, a non-partisan coalition of 11 national public health organizations and civic engagement organizations. The overall aim of HDHP has been to advance health equity by strengthening democracy through inclusive civic and voter participation.

In 2020 HDHP worked with civic engagement organizations and election officials to promote safe voting plans and voter participation. In 2021 HDHP committed to building public understanding of the relationship between inclusive, representative democracy and health outcomes and launched the Health & Democracy Index (Index). The Index is an analysis comparing 12 public health indicators and voter turnout to the restrictiveness of voting policies in each state. Findings from this analysis echo historical and international research and demonstrate that states with more inclusive voting policies and greater levels of civic participation are healthier.

Coalition partners play a key role in disseminating and reinforcing this understanding by championing policies that promote voting access within their organizations and communities. HDHP partners successfully worked to get Healthy People 2030 to include increasing voter participation as a core health objective. A growing number of states are now prioritizing civic and voter participation in their State Health Assessments and Plans. By working with civic engagement organizations, partners successfully encouraged HealthCare.Gov to include voter registration information. In collaboration with our Health & Democracy partners, Responsive Gov is supporting initiatives to protect and promote civic participation and engage health sector organizations through voter education and resources. We continue to expand the research on the relationship between civic and voter participation and health outcomes and share findings through publications and presentations.

By joining forces with Responsive Gov, HDHP is aligned with leading democracy policy experts enhancing our collective ability to respond to emerging opportunities and expand our leadership capacity. This merger builds upon our resources and enhances our collective ability to create systemic change.

Jeanne Ayers, Founder and Executive Director of HDHP and Gnora Mahs, Partnership Director, have joined the Responsive Gov team as a Fellow and Health & Democracy Coalitions Advisor respectively.